American Animals

A crime story of huge originality that then turns into something more familiar and less memorable.

Barry Keoghan

This
is a film of two distinct halves. The first pulls off the unexpected
feat of telling a heist story in a unique and playful style. Its tone
is set at once when the written on-screen statement that 'This is not
based on a true story’ converts into 'This is a true story'. We have
had films before that have lied about their authenticity so, when this
one suddenly introduces its four leading characters - students planning
to steal rare books from a university library - by showing them in
later life and describing them as the real people, we don't know if we
should believe it or not. After all, when these 'real' individuals
offer their individual recollections of what they did, it is stressed
that what each remembers can be different and, in one brief scene
connected with their search for an experienced fence, two totally
different-looking actors appear as the contact man to fit the
contradictory descriptions being offered. Elsewhere there are jokes
about Reservoir Dogs.
Nevertheless, this engagingly fresh comic approach does not prevent the
planning of the crime, including the realisation by the leaders, Warren
(Evan Peters) and Spencer (Barry Keoghan), that they need to bring in
two more accomplices (Jared Abrahamson and Blake Jenner), coming across
in a way that not only intrigues but creates genuine tension too.

Peters and Keoghan in the two main roles (the latter so good too in The Killing of a Sacred Deer)
are suitably contrasted and the supporting cast includes the ever
reliable Ann Dowd as the librarian in charge of the books that are
being targeted. Thus far, American Animals is as pleasingly offbeat as a genre tale as The Usual Suspects
(1995) was in its own sphere. But then comes the second half. The
repeated appearance of a written title for a particular section
suggests that the humour is intact, but actually it isn't. By stressing
that the planners are kids dissatisfied with life and on the lookout
for something to transform their existence who then choose to bring
this about themselves, the film courts the sympathy of a young audience
especially and even invites identification (after all these youngsters
are aiming at a non-violent crime against an institution). However, the
belated realisation that the librarian will have to be put out of
commission brings in uneasily an element of violence and the robbery
plays out as a standard heist drama to be followed by moralistic scenes
in the aftermath of the crime.

Thus, the second half of American Animals
is transformed from the joys of its first hour or so into an
over-extended and decidedly routine second half. There is much here
that should be seen because its novelty means that it can be relished,
but tiresomely that is followed by a great deal that simply
disappoints. The change of style and tone defeat a work in which the
originality is ultimately incompatible with the tale being told. Bart
Layton is both writer and director so he must take all the praise and
all the blame too. But, make no mistake about it, what is good is very,
very good.